Simon Maroko - February 19 & 26, 1986

Pre-War Religious Life

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What are your fondest memories of your household?

[cries] The who.. the family being together around the table on Shabbos or on Seder. Um, there was a warmth there, a, a feeling of security, of peace. We knew what we wou...cou...could expect, it was all traditional. And each one knew what their role was. My father was the head of the household, it was old fashioned Orthodox way. My mother, that Ayshet Chayil. And then there is sort of family and sometimes we had guests, especially uh, after 1933 we had people who came uh, as refugees from either Poland or Germany. Sometimes people who had come from Poland through Germany and, and, and they came in Holland either on their way to some other country or not. Uh, one of them that I do remember was not a refugee but it was one of my earlier times with someone who had come from Palestine. His name was Amira, he was a dentist. And he came from Odessa. Uh, he gave some free me...uh, dental advice. He told me that I had a tremendous underbite, like this and he told me how to correct it. Um, after the services there were some, one or more people left who didn't have anyplace to go for a meal so my father was either the last one or one of the last ones to leave the synagogue. He uh, took one, sometimes perhaps more, but usually one with him to our table.